KAMPUNG BOY - GRAPHIC BOOK

LAT is one of the most belove4 cartoonists in Southeast Asia. His first work, was publishe4
when he was [ust thirteen years 0 I 4 .

In Kampung Boy, LAT recounts the life of Mat, a Muslim boy growing up in rural Malaysia
in the 1950's: his a4ventures an4 mischief-making, fishing trips, religious e4ucation, an4
work on his family's rubber plantation. Meanwhile, the tra4itional way of life in his village
Cor kampung) is stea4ily 4isappearing, with tin mines an4 factory jobs increasingly
overtaking the village's agricultural way of life. When Mat himself leaves for boating
school, he can only hope that his familiar kampung will still be there when he returns.

The first in a 4elightful series, KAMPl/NG BOY is hilarious an4 affectionate, with brilliant,
super-expressive artwork that opens a win4ow into a worl4 that has now nearly vanishe4.

I cannot truly recall, of course, what happened in the first few years of my life. It was not
until I had learned to speak and been able to conduct conversation with my mother that I
found out about my early days.

I was born in a kampong in the hart of the world's largest tin-mining district- the Kinta
Valley in Perak.

According to my mother, I was borne at about ten o'clock on a Monday morning in our
house. The task of delivering me into this world fell to my own grandmother. She had been
the official midwife in the kampong for many years. I was Mum's first child- My father's
memory of this day was also quite clear. According to him, he was under the house waiting
anxiously when my grandfather called: "Come and cradle your son!"

Minutes later dad was standing in the anjung Clounge)
with me in his arms. Then he whispered the muezzin's call
softly in my ears just as any good Muslim father would do
to his newly born child.

Dad also presented my grandmother with the
following items:

A roast chicken
A plate of yellow rice
A batik sarong.

These gifts were [ust a formality. On the 45 th
day, the day of my mother's complete
recovery from her 'pantang" Ctaboo) period, I
underwent some formalities myself. It was the
"adapt cukur kepala" Cmy hair-shaving
ceremony). Quite an affair, I must say. Pad
invited neighbors and relatives. It was on this
day that, just as the sun was rising, I was
brought out of the house for the first time to
feel the air outside.

The first part of this ceremony was course
the shaving. Grandma Cwho else?) did it. Then,
bald and naked, I was carried to the front yard
where, witnessed by more than a dozen well-
wishers, she gave me a bath.

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Before long I dozed off. Then the
gathering adjourned for some
refreshments my folks had for
them

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And so life began
with a mother's
lov

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Oh! How affectionately and
tenderly Mum cared for me.
Everyday she would wrap up my
whole body in the swaddling
cloths....

Then she'd stuff me
with porridge.

As I grew bigger, I learned to crawl. By
this time I had already started showing
my own physical features as an
individual. I had 3 full, round face and
although the bridge of my nose was
guite low I had no complaints because,
as I discovered fater, none of my
ancestors had 3 high nose bridge.

However, Mum's description of my
looks was rather vague and unsatisfying.
She said I looked sweet whenever I
smiled but on the whole I was by no
means a beauty.

I would crawl all around the house all
day long. Sometimes I'd play with the
spots of sunlight that fell on the floor.

From the window in the front part of
the house I could see a rubber estate.

It was from the direction of this
estate that a distant roaring sound
came and never seemed to stop. It
was the sound of tin dredge, bout
which I shall tell you more later in
this book.

I loved to look out of the window
because that was the closest I could
get to the surroundings outside the
house. I was not allowed to go to
outside yet.

Sometimes I stuck my head out
too far...

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Our house was made of "chengai" wood.

The chengai tree gives very handsome timber that really lasts a long time.

At the age of four... happiness was
seeing Aunt Khatijiah, a rubber small-
holder, coming back from her daily
tapping late in the morning.

I always offered her a helping hand in
processing the "milk of the rubber tree."
First, she'd add some liquid (later I
discovered it was formic acid) to the latex
and we'd stir it.

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Then we'd wait for about 15 minutes or so
for the latex to harden.

After that I'd help her flatten the
coagulated rubber...

Then it went to the roller to be turned
into sheets. 1/sually by this time I had to
leave because Mum would be calling me
back.

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to eat or to take cafe of my sister. Oh
yes! Our family had already been blessed
with another member then-my sister,
Maimunah.

I had always been curious
about thee tin dredge, which kept on
roaring from the other side of the
plantation. One morning I broke one
of Mum's rules by sneaking out of the
housing compound.

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I just had to see how the tin
dredge looked.-..

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What I saw was a huge thing floating
in the big pool of mud- It had to be
huge, for even at a distance it looked
very big. No wonder it sounded so
loud- It would roar and once in a
while groan frighteningly...
like a monster!

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Well... that was also the day I
discovered how angry Mum could
get.

I was so afraid of what Mum
would do to me that I was
running like a barking deer!
She lost me near Pak Alang's
house when the man, who
knew me by sight, showed
sympathy for me...

But of course I got the thrashing later anyway.

My father was different. He was a funny fellow. My
sister and I would look, forward to seeing him coming
back from work in the afternoon. He was a
government clerk in Batu Gajah.

He was a big man. This was what
he'd do first...

scratch his back.

Then it was tea time for us. l/sually we'd
have either fried bananas or fried tapioca.
Or boiled bananas... or boiled tapioca. But
occasionally Mum would bake our favorite
cake - kueh bengkang.

Mum baked kueh bengkang like this with
a fire on top and below because we didn't
have an oven. The cake is cylindrical in
shape and made of rice flour, coconut
milk, egg, and palm sugar.

Very tasty.

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Then we'd foo I around with Dad-

As you can see, he was a very playful person

Just before sundown it was bath time. This was another time we
looked forward to: when Dad would take us to the river not far
behind the house.

On the way, we often stopped to look at the weaverbirds' nests that
hung high on the top of the bamboo trees.

I remember Dad telling us an astonishing fact about the weavers.

"These birds are very clever," he said- "When the time comes for
mama weaver to lay eggs, papa weaver will do anything to make her
comfortable.

"He will catch a firefly at night and take it
WX back to light up their home."

t.1 Dad knew a lot about such things.

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Nothing nearly that exiting
3 t night...

Maimunah and I would wish wait
for Dad 2nd Mum to finish their
prayer before all of us had dinner

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One special treat I enfoyed very much then
was joining Dad when he went out to do
the monthly shopping for provisions. We
would ride on his Elswick.

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government

dispensary

This is our town.

Next to the dispensary on the left is Ah Yew's shop, where we
do our shopping, and next door is a cloth dealer who is also a
small-time goldsmith. On the right is an Indian eating shop;
followed by book shop, a rubber dealer, and a bicycle shop.

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ice ball

constable mat Saman
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vegetable

When the shopping was done we
done we would proceed to a tea stall
in front of the village mosque. Here
the kampung men met and had long
conversations over coffee and tea. I
would join in the talk. However, I
could not follow their
conversations. Needless to say, I was
there fust to accompany Dad-

As I reached six years of age, when
education became the task of my
father, I was sent to Tuan Syed
Ahmad's Koran reading class, at the
religious teacher's home. It was a must
for all children of my age to begin
learning Ta|wid Cthe art of reading
Arabic with the correct enunciation) ;
so that we could master the Koran.

Although it was the earliest stage of my formal education, I must admit that i was
not very happy to see Tuan Syed for the first time that afternoon.

My enrollment in the class was done
in the traditional way. I can still
remember clearly what happened- Pad
handed over to Tuan Syed a bowl of
glutinous rice, a fee of $1, and a small
cane and then said: "Tuan, I am
handing my son over to you in the
hope that you'll teach him the
Koran. Treat him as if he is your own

...if he is stubborn or naughty don't hesitate
to punish him with this cane-as along as you
don't break any of his bones or blind him."
Tuan Syed took the cane and nodded. Thus
ended the formality. But I noticed the
teacher already had his
own cane.

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And we were supposed to
pronounce...exgctly ... as... the... Arabs

One thing I discovered about an afternoon class was you tend to get sleepy...

Before long I became used to the scene and
had befriended some of the fellows. At the
end of each month we'd pay the teacher
for his service. Tuan Syed accepted any
form of payment. Some of us would give
him $1, some gave 50 cents, others gave
him a plate of rice or sugar.

Or we could be like these three brothers
here (the children of Meor Yusoff), who
gave teacher firewood they picked on their / ]■'
way to class.

Even that was all right.

These children of l^\eoir Yusoff were in fact the first friends that I made. I was rather
afraid of them at first because the way they talked and moved around led me to think
hey were rough. But I admired them for their knowledge of fishing, which seemed to
be the most important thing in their lives.

They always had interesting things to tell about the river and fishing and many a time
they invited me to come along and watch them inspect their fish traps. But I would
turn down their invitation because I was not sure whether I was brave enough to go to
the farway 2nd remote parts of the river.

But Meor Din, the eldest of the Meor
brothers, would say to me each time
before we parted; "if you want to know
the best spots for swimming and if you
want to learn fishing, follow us."

One day, I just couldn't resist.

It was such an enjoyable afternoon for
me as we inspected the fish traps. I felt I
was very lucky because these guys had
invited me to join them. I was certain
their friendship would turn out to be
very important for my whole life.

I had so much to learn. I couldn't swim
and I didn't know how to handle a fish
and I thought it was up to these
fellows to teach me. I was
extremely proud to be with them.

We walked back by a different route.
As we were passing a swampy area,
Meor Din pointed at some strange-
looking plants I had never seen
before. " What do you think those
are?" he asked-

I said "I don't know." "Those are
monkey pot," he said-

(They were pitcher-plants, which had
leaves in the shape of little jugs with
lids. We actually call them monkey
pots. Why?)

"Because," said Meor Din the know-
it-all, "when the little jugs are filled
up with rainwater, the monkeys come
and drink from them."

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Then we passed through
a dredging area. It was
the first time I saw a tin
dredge up close. I told
the boys that when I was
younger I was scared of
the dredge because I
thought it was a
monster.

The fellows laughed-

As far as I can remember, the first
time I ever stepped out of the
kampung was to attend the wedding
of a male relative of out-s in a nearby
village. May family and I were in the
pary that accompanied the groom to
the Akad Nikah ceremony at the
bride's house.

We went in two cars. The groom was
driven in a new Morris Minor
belonging to a teacher and we
followed in the dresser's Austin.

Our party was very well received by the
peop e at the bride's house although we
arrived an hour late. Bridegrooms never
arrive on time, as I discovered in late
years.

It was truly a big occasion and there was
a huge crowd outside the house. As I
entered I could tell, by the look of the
handsomely built house and its
furniture, that the girl was from a well-
to-do family.

Waiting inside were the Kathi Cjudge),
other guests, and witness.

There was no sign of the bride because
in this Akad Nikah ceremony only the
groom was needed by the Kathi to sign
the marriage papers.

Then came the tricky part. Watched by witnesses, the groom was asked to recite after the
Kathi the holy words of matrimony in one breath. In my cousin's case, he had to do it
three times because the witnesses weren't satisfied until the third time.

I join you. Mat Som Bin Ibrahim, in
welock to Sofia Binte Osman, with a
dowry of $22.50 cash down

" I tanke sofiah Binte Osman
to be my lawful wedded wife with l
the dowry < >f...er...er . ^

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After that our party left with the groom to to to
another house to rest. Everything had been
arranged earlier for this temporary stay at the
house.

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At about 2 o'clock we returned to the
bride's place for a big feast, and most
important of all, for the Bersanding
ceremony, in which the bride and groom
sit on a platform.

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Although this ceremony did not take long, they had to do it again that night, when we
were served more food. But that was the last time we saw them, for after the second
Bersanding at about 8 pm, the bride and the groom were ushered onto their bedroom
and left aone.

Suddenly things outside began
to swing! There was a loud
happy tune with the Joget
beat. We rushed out. There
was a band and a group of
dancing girls!

This was something. I had
never seen anything like this
before. Probably those girls
were hired from a cabaret in
Ipoh, a big town 30 miles
away.

And they were ready! The
band was playing. All they
needed now was for men folks
to come up to the stage Cbuilt
temporarily for this wedding)
and dance with them!

Anybody could go up!

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To my surprise, it was Dad who went up first!

The best went on and in no
time the stage was crowded
with sporting men and their
jovial partners doing the
joget. It's not difficult to
do. Just move your feet and
flap your wings.

They danced the night away.
Dad was on the stage most
of the time. On the whole it
was a very happy occasion.

But later at home... the atmosphere was not good. Mum was in a bad mood
because she didn't like Dad dancing with the girls.

From inside my kelambu I could hear her whisper in anger: "A father of two
doesn't dance with cabaret girls, you know! That is meant for bachelors! Next
time you do that I'll go on stage and pull you by the ears!"

At the age of nine, I began to feel that I was a l-esponsibie person. I
had already Started an extra class conducted by Tuan Syed where we
learned how to pray. This picture shows Tuan Syed teaching us the

Wudze-a minor ritual ablution. It is the washing

of face, hands, and
feet required before
every prayer

Oh yes! By this time we already had another fellow in the family. My brother,
Abdul Rahman. As you can see, he enjoyed being taken for a ride on the spathe of
the Pinang tree.

Dad and Mum were not in favor of
this at all. And many a night I
became the subject of their
discussions.

Dad said I only seemed to enjoy going out fishing and
playing around with the boys and this would eventually
affect my studies.

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What he said was true in a way. I found going to school a difficult task. Especially
getting up in the early hours of the morning and going to the cold river for a bath.

Before going on my way to school
it was very important for me to
look at my fish trap.

In school I was a guiet person. I'd rather be by myself. Even during school recess I'd eat
alone. Some boys called me a dreamer.

But I was rather poor in arithmetic and my
work was often shown as a bad example.

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I can still recall my first week in
school. That was the time we
were given free powdered milk in
a Government health campaign.
We were encouraged to eat
nutritious food.

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For some of us, it was the first time we tgstecj powdered milk. And
we had 3 bit of stomach trouble.

Naturally, after the Friday
prayer, we'd go fishing.

By this time I was already quite
good at it. I knew how to handle a
catfish without giving it a chance
to sting my fingers.

And sometimes we would
go hand-fishing in the
water. This was, of cour se,
more daring.

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Sometimes we'd borrow Pak Alang's sampan to go fishing with a net.

We used to catch lobsters with the net. And we were
not bad at manning the sampan too... even the one
with a big hole could be put into use-with the proper
know-how.

Time traveled
too fast, I
thought. All
of a sudden I
was told that
it was time for
me to be circumcised- I was
almost ten years old then
It was not something that
I was happy to hear, but i
knew everyone had to pass
through it.

It was my grandmother's wish that the Bersunat Ccircumcision)
ceremony be held at her house. I was to be circumcised along with two
other cousins of mine who were studying at a boarding school far away.

Grandma asked me to come along when she went around hose to house inviting neighbors
to the occasion.

Yes, that's the fellow," she'd say to her would-be guests.

And so the big day came. ..there was a big feast attended by a Urge
crowd of relatives and friends (in other words, the whole
kampung).

The three of us were splendidly dressed in the traditional costume.
All the good food was placed before us. But we didn't feel like
eating.

The Tok Modin W 35 quite 3 funny fellow, 35 we discovered 3 fter being introduced to
him. We h3d 3 brief convention when he 3sked us 3 bout ourselves, our studies, 3nd
our f 3 vorite p 3 stimes.

"H 3 ve some chocoUtes," he 531'd Uter 3nd offered us some "chocoUtes," which were
3ctu3lly betel Ie3ves 3nd 3rec3 nuts.

CE 3 rlier, he h3d uttered 3 m3gic3l inc3nt3tion over the "chocoUtes" so th3t 3 fter
chewing them we could undergo circumcision p3 i n lessly . )

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I didn't know what the
purpose of this short bath
was. Whatever it was, I
knew we were very special
people that day. Even for
this simple dip the
guests- including women
and girls-followed and
watched us.

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Then the moment came... the first boy Cthe eldest) was off to see Tok Modin
Good luck to him.

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The next two weeks were quite boring. We were not allowed to leave the
house, because Grandma was very strict. And what was worse, she only let us
eat rice and salt fish... and drink boiled water.

However, after we had become well again, Grandma treated us to
a movie in Batu Gajah. My family came along too, and Pad
bought the tickets.

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Meanwhile the Meor brothers had gone
in for a new pastime. ..dulag-washing.
This method of finding tin using the
pan was of course not right in
the eyes of the law if you went

panning at the back of a
tin dredge! But the dredge yty/

people didn't seem to
mind-

Furthermore, what the
\ folks worked on was the
waste-the mud and sand-
which was shot out
through the back of the
~ dredge. But the mud
contained some remnants
of the mineral.

The Meor brothers invited me to come
with them. I was thinking ...a kati of
tin could fetch $5.25 and some folks
could get two katis per day...

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It didn't take long before I decided to [oin them.

Meor Din showed me how.

First, collect the mucldy sand
into the pan.

With water added, the pan was
gracefully rotated-..

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This lets the light mud and
sand out of the dulang...

...leaving the heavy mineral behind

learned fast

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But bad luck, was upon us. The tin company, which for so long had faced this problem of

preventing outsiders from coming to do & - - &

illegal dulang-washing, had lost patience
and complained to the police.

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However, he knew...

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Well. ..he wasn't impressed.

I was caught of course... and it certainly
was a good thrashing dad gave me. He kept
on asking why I wasn't thinking seriously
about my futui-e...

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I retired early that night. My
eyes were swollen because of
the beating and my excessive
weeping. And I once again
became the subject of
discussion between my
parents. This time my mother
complained that Father's
punishment was too harsh.

"He was just trying to how
you that he is capable like the
rest of boys," she said-

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"He should do well in his studies," said Dad, "instead of stealing tin! His special
examination is coming soon and he must pass in order to be admitted to the boarding
school in Ipoh."

Anyway, a few days later my
father took me to his 2-acre , f -

rubber plantation. I had no idea . ,f
why he was' taking me there. I had //f . "

never been to this area before. \i\ / ■ t v

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"You should know about this plantation," he sg id
after the long ride. My father's huge rubber trees
were very old and the whole area was thick with
undergrowth. All I knew about this plantation
was that a kampung fellow was hired to tap the
trees.

"Soon I'm planning to replant this land with
high-yielding rubber. But first I have to get some
people to clear it", he said-

Dad took out his parang and started cutting
through shrubs in a particular spot, which
revealed a border stone.

He indicated the borders of this land and told me
who the neighboring lands belonged to.

"All right," he handed me the parang, "now you clear the shrubs around the border stones
so that we know our borders."

But I hesitated and said; "But father... why not let the man who looks after this
plantation take care of thatr

Dad seemed annoyed...

/^Because this landis "v
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I are my eldest son. When
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\ your name! you will /

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With my face turning red, I started
clearing the undergrowth. I was
confused, too. Never had I thought
my father would announce my
inheritance so soon!

Obviously he was trying to make
amends after that outburst of
temper at the doorstep.

Dad added: "All this is of course on
condition that you study well and
pass your examination."

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All right, Father."

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MY OWN LAND!

The special examination that
was approaching was for
standard four pupils and several,
including myself, were advised
by our teacher to take it.

if I could pass I would be
admitted to an exclusive
boarding school in the big
town of Ipoh. I would really be
a somebody!

And so. ..no more hanging
around with the Meor brothers.
I had to pass!

I passed.

It was hal'd to believe at first.

Our head master, who was responsible for
taking us to the examination at a big school in
Kampar, broke the news to me one afternoon
in front of his house.

"Along with three other fellows, you've
passed."

I couldn't wait to tell everyone at home. Especially Father.

But when I got back I saw him leaving in the land broker's motor-car.

Mother said she had known all along 1 would pass. When 1 asked where Father
had gone with the land broker, she said: "They've gone to his plantaion. It
seems the tin company people are coming to inspect whether there's tin in the
areas. Many say there's a lot of tin here and if they but the land it'll be quite a
big sum.

"if they do buy your father's land, we can
use the money to get a home in the cheap
housing development in loph. Many local
folks are thinking the same.

"The tin company people are going to
tell us whether there's tin around here,
too," she said-

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Weeks later, it was time for me to leave for the big school far away. The Meor brothers
came to send me off that morning. Dad brought along a mattress Cthe hostel didn't
supply mattresses).

I was looking forward to my new life...

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I still remember what my grandmother said while we
waited for the bus: "Listen. ..don't be arrogant there.
Be humble because we are humble people. Always
remember God and don't forget about us back here
in the kampung." _

$ A %

It was as if I was going for good!

f ^ IT

a

I couldn't describe my feelings as the bus took Dad and me away. I
couldn't tell for s

ure whether the town folks I was going to meet would know my kampung
when I mentioned its name ...it was so small. ••people were so few. But I
loved it so much... its river, its trees, the quite hoses, and my friends.

And I suddenly hoped they wouldn't find tin there because more than
anything, I waned my kampung to go back to.

END